Doak played for the St. Louis Cardinals (I swear I didn't put vin up to this story!) from 1914-1924, worked with Rawlings on a revolutionary new design of baseball gloves that became a prototype for year and retired to Bradenton. Here, Doak became a fixture in short order, with a downtown sweet shop and the patience of a saint in coaching boys' baseball. Few knew what a legend he'd been.

Does Vin see a bit of himself in Doak? Maybe he should. I took a call this morning from a reader in Rubonia, upset because she hadn't talked to Vin last week before he retired. Everyone in her family has been mentioned in Vin's columns over the years -- birthdays, a wedding, a sports highlight. She didn't want me to "bother" Vin in retirement -- she said, "Just let him know Ruby is gonna miss him terribly."

We know we can't really replace Vin, but we're going to keep some of his traditions going. Another Herald retiree, Carl Mario Nudi, has returned part time, and he'll start writing a weekly "People" column. Carl's a character in his own right, so we think you're going to enjoy his banter. You can send him items at cnudi@bradenton.com any time. And reporter Richard Dymond, rdymond@bradenton.com, is changing beats and will be covering health & social services, picking up where Vin left off in great coverage and story-telling about our vast non-profit world.

When a newsroom staffer moves on, as I wrote in my Sunday column, it's a long-standing tradition in
newsrooms to put together a front page that pays
tribute to the departing compadre -- complete with touches of newsroom
humor. We asked some of Vin's friends, former cohorts and community
contacts to contribute, too. So here's to Vinny. Enjoy retirement!